Author: hsoi

KR Training – 2014-04-05 – DLG-E/DLG-E Quick Hits

/ hsoi / 2 Comments

This past Saturday at KR Training was slightly different — we had 2 classes, and they were the same class. Two classes is the norm, but usually it’s different classes. There’s been such a demand for Defensive Long Gun: Essentials, Karl scheduled it twice in the same day. Full house each time, great weather, the day was set for goodness!

Karl is updating curriculum in light of the new shoot house structure. I spent both classes running students one-by-one through the shoot house. Given the class is about long-gun use in a home-defense situation, it helps to get some experience at dealing with walls, corners, movement, target discernment, etc.. Granted, the bigger lesson that most everyone already knew was: call the police, hunker down. Room clearing is not something you really want to do, movement through your house (or office, or some other building) with a known threat is not an ideal thing to do. But life may necessitate it (is your house’s floorplan such that your room is on one side of the house and your children’s on another? If Junior screams in the middle of the night, you’re going to move).

Biggest things I can relay to the students is what I said at the end of class regarding what I saw:

  • Don’t crowd the cover.
    • You have this tool that is purpose-built to overcome distance, so you don’t have to. Yes, “monkey-brain” wants to close the distance and smash with rock, but we have better tools so let’s work to overcome our monkey-brain and use our tools in the best way possible.
    • In short: distance is your friend. Put as much distance between you and the danger as you can.
  • Target discernment is vital.
    • You just can’t shoot because of preconceived notions or what you think might happening. You have to know. Granted it was tough when you just had static pictures (no sound, no motion) but the lessons were learned.
    • You have to be sure you can see what you need to see. Work on ready positions. Make sure when the gun is in the ready position that you can see all you need to see; some people were holding the carbine somewhat high and couldn’t see what was below (e.g. maybe his hands were at his beltline). Work on being able to quickly mount the gun from the ready position.
  • And remember, beer & tv.

For those curious about shotgun ammo, here’s the link to the shotgun ammo trials I did. Remember, the key thing you want is:

  • Federal Premium FLITECONTROL
    • The FLITECONTROL is the most important bit.
  • 00 buckshot. 8-pellet preferred (over the 9-pellet)
  • Low-recoil (might just say 1145 fps, vs. the 1325 fps, or whatever it is)
  • Then other things like:
    • 12 gauge
    • 2.75″ shells

As for our own internals, the more we use the shoot house, the more we learn. We’re getting better at how to set it up and run through things, ensuring maximum learning, but also not taking too much time so we can get everyone in class run through it. Timing worked out much better this day than the prior classes. We’ll continue to refine and improve.

Here’s an AAR from one student (twmaster)

Thank you all for coming out!

 

2014-04-07 training log

/ hsoi

Not one of my best days

Based upon Paul Carter’s LRB-365 and Base Building

  • Incline Press
    • 45 x 5
    • 45 x 5
    • 110 x 5
    • 130 x 4
    • 150 x 3
    • 180 x 2
    • 200 x 1
    • 155 x 12
    • 155 x 5
  • DB Bench Press
    • 55e x 10
    • 55e x 10
    • 55e x 10
    • 55e x 10
    • 55e x 10
  • Behind the Neck Press
    • 90 x 8
    • 90 x 8
    • 90 x 6
  • BB Upright Row
    • 50 x 15
    • 50 x 15
    • 50 x 15
    • 50 x 15
    • 50 x 15
  • Tricep Punchdowns
    • 70 x 40 (each arm)

Just not feeling it today. Been mighty tired as of late. In part because of simple lack of enough sleep, but then also a lot of overwork. It’s my own fault, and I just have to resolve to get to bed earlier and ensure a better night’s sleep each night.

So I wasn’t feeling it when I started, as witnessed by fewer reps on the AMAP+50% set vs last week. But again, so interesting how an extra grinding rep or 2 there affects the entire rest of the session. I cranked out the DB presses great, and the BNP was even better — I found myself hitting a good groove and going all the way down, touching the bar to the base of my neck (often it doesn’t get down the far). So things got better as I went along, but still, today just didn’t feel hot.

Ah well, these days happen. At least I still got in there and worked.

Sunday Metal – Top Metal Albums 1990-2000 – #17 Morbid Angel

/ hsoi

When Metal-Rules.com posted their Top 30 Metal Albums 1990-2000, I thought it’d make a fun list for Sunday Metal.

#17 – Morbid Angel – Blessed are the Sick

“Blessed are the Sick”

What are YOU doing about it?

/ hsoi / 1 Comment

I’m a part of a neighborhood website, which covers many neighborhoods in Austin and even has participation by Austin Police Department and Travis County Sheriff’s office.

One of the Travis County Constables posted a general “community service” message. In response, someone posted about a car break-in in their neighborhood, and from the sounds of it, it’s not an uncommon occurrence in their neighborhood. What got me was the closing sentence of their post:

We live here and we want to feel safe.

The tone of the posting was saying there’s a problem, we don’t feel safe, we want to feel safe, and what are YOU going to do about it?

While to a degree that’s understandable, I have issue with a few things.

First, you have to realize that your feelings don’t matter. What matters is reality.  Instead of living in a bubble that expects the world to be this ideal thing, accept the world is far from your ideal. That may not be the happiest way to look at things, but when you look at realities instead of falsehoods, you can accomplish more.

Second, why are you putting your safety on others? Why are others responsible for your safety? Why aren’t you responsible for your own safety? Why aren’t you rallying your neighbors to get more active and do something about the level of safety and crime in your neighborhood? Start a neighborhood watch. Talk with each other. Keep a watchful eye out for yourself and each other, to look for odd things going on. That doesn’t mean you have to get vigilante, but it’s about having awareness and being pro-active about your own well-being instead of expecting others to provide it.

This isn’t to say you shouldn’t request help from local law enforcement. That’s part of their job, it’s part of what your tax dollars pay for. But realize there are only so many police in town and they cannot be everywhere. But you and your neighbors are there in your neighborhood, and you can and should take your own steps to help improve your conditions instead of expecting, waiting for, and being let-down by putting your safety and well-being in the hands of others.

And then, perhaps you’ll be able to feel safer, because you’ll know something is actively being done to actually make your neighborhood safer and have less crime. And you’ll probably even feel better about it, because that improvement is coming by your own hands.

2014-04-04 training log

/ hsoi

My back seems to respond to slower work.

Based upon Paul Carter’s LRB-365 and Base Building

  • BB Rows
    • 135 x 8
    • 135 x 8
    • 135 x 8
    • 135 x 8
    • 135 x 8
  • Seated Cable Rows
    • 90 x 15
    • 90 x 15
    • 90 x 13
  • Shrugs
    • 185 x 20
    • 185 x 20
    • 185 x 17
    • 185 x 15
    • 185 x 15
  • Wide, Neutral-grip Pulldowns
    • 90 x 15
    • 90 x 15
    • 90 x 15
    • 90 x 13
    • 90 x 12
  • BB Curls
    • 40 x 12
    • 40 x 12
  • 20 minutes elliptical

    • While on paper it doesn’t look like much progress, it is.

    I am working to be a bit more bodybuilder-like in what I do, at least for any exercise that isn’t a power/strength movement (e.g. the 5,4,3,2,1 sets of bench/squat). I’m trying to not just move weight through space, but feel the muscle working and have the muscle really do the work. Trying to have a slower pace, not any sort of 2-0-4-0 type of tempo, but again to move slow enough and have enough of a little pause or hold or whatever to avoid momentum such that if I suddenly had to change direction I could without overshooting. That does put more emphasis on the negative (eccentric) part of the movement.

    And boy, what a difference it’s making.

    It’s rare that I feel my back work. I get a nice forearm and biceps pump, and something to my back, but rarely does my back (esp. the lats and traps and such) feel like they’ve been worked in any way. Sometimes I get it, but not often. Today? Really got it. I tried to make every movement something I can feel and really control. Now, shrugs, I think I’ll drop the weight on those and make them slower because I know those aren’t being done that way (I do it like Marc Rippetoe describes, which is basically like trying to clean up a barbell that’s too heavy). Or maybe I won’t and just see how many reps I can still muster and adjust from there.

    Also, I’m trying to ensure I move from the elbow. I don’t want this to be a big biceps workout. Have all the movement come from the elbow, and really focus on the back muscles. I don’t get that so much with those wide-neutral-grip lat pulldowns… so I may try playing with the grip more. But all in all, yeah….

    So on paper, it doesn’t look like much, but it’s progress. Just gotta keep at it. Probably need at least 3 months of this before I can really pass judgement.

    KR Training news

    / hsoi

    Couple bits of KR Training-related news.

    First, the April 2014 newsletter is up. Classes through the summer are scheduled. Some cool offering this summer as well.

    Second, a mailing list (Yahoo Group) has been started for KR Training alumni. It’s a place where you can ask questions or share links to articles, for those that want more discussion than we do on Facebook or in the newsletter. You can find the list on it’s official Yahoo Group’s page or by sending an email to krtraining-alumni-subscribe@yahoogroups.com

     

    Why 2?

    / hsoi / 2 Comments

    I read this article (h/t to Greg Ellifritz) about carrying folding knives:

    So, now I’m going to blow your mind. What side do you carrying your folder and let’s say you cannot carry a fixed? I would say the vast majority and I mean like everyone I see in classes carries their folder on their strong side. Again, we have to go back to defining the mission. Is this a secondary weapon, your pistol being the primary. If it is, then the better approach is to carry the folder on your weak side. The first thing people say is I cannot use my weak hand for anything. That’s a lot like a boxer saying they can’t jab with their weak hand…doesn’t make much sense does it. If you are a bit awkward on your weak side then you will need to train. We have been training on the folding knife for several years and I’m surprised to hear folks comment about how easy it was to pick up the folder on the weak side with the right structure.

    We try to encourage folks to look at themselves from a bi-lateral point of view. That means consideration for weapon system available and deployable from your weak side. Not every scenario is a gun scenario, you have to find the balance. That is code for not getting you face punched in before you can think of other weapon systems. Then being able to retrieve and deploy the blade from a folder is the next progression.

    So I’m going to blow your mind: carry 2 folders, one on each side.

    Part of my EDC are 2 folding knives (Spyderco Delicas, if you’re curious). I learned this from Insights Training Center in their Defensive Folding Knife class. The folders are both set the exact same way: tip-up carry, clipped inside my front pant pocket, one on my left, one on my right. Yes, that means the one on the left is “backwards”, but trust me it works for consistency. It does mean when I draw with the left hand, I must give the knife a flip, but that’s alright because then I have consistent motion. If I use my right hand to obtain the knife on the left, it’s the same as using my right hand to obtain the knife on the right! Same with the left: it’s consistent no matter which knife I go for.

    I often get the question: why do you carry two knives?

    We can go back to the whole “2 is 1, 1 is none” mantra, and while true that’s not the primary reason. The primary reason is because sometimes you can’t get to one so you have to go for the other.

    It doesn’t even have to be in a combat situation. I use my knives for daily tasks, like opening letters, opening packages — cutting things, you know, what knives were designed to do.( BTW, for those that discourage using your “fighting knife” to open letters because it will dull the blade: 1. the daily drawing of my knife is another rep, another bit of practice towards deployment and use, 2. this is why the Spyderco Tri-Angle Sharpmaker was invented; buy one, use it.) And even in my daily life, sometimes I cannot get to my desired knife. Maybe I’m lying on my side. Maybe I’ve got a seat-belt in the way (and sometimes I’m driving, and sometimes I’m a passenger). Who knows. But believe me, having worn 2 knives like this for the past 6 years, while I may generally go for the same-side knife, there have been more than enough times when I had no choice but to go for the other-side — and so far, no knife fighting outside of the classroom.

    And yes, sometimes I go for the other-side knife just for the practice.

    I agree with the author about the importance of weak-side and being offset from your primary. But even then, you may not be able to get to your one-side, and there’s so little cost and overhead in having a folder on both sides. Consider it.

    2014-04-02 training log

    / hsoi

    ooopf.

    Based upon Paul Carter’s LRB-365 and Base Building

    • Squat
      • BW x 10
      • BW x 10
      • bar x 5
      • bar x 5
      • 135 x 5
      • 165 x 4
      • 195 x 3
      • 225 x 2
      • 255 x 1
      • 185 x 12
      • 185 x 5
    • Stiff Leg Deadlift
      • 195 x 8
      • 195 x 8
      • 195 x 6
    • Leg Press
      • 135 x 20
      • 135 x 20
      • 135 x 20
      • 135 x 20
    • Standing Calf Raises
      • 35 x 15
      • 35 x 15
      • 35 x 15
      • 35 x 12
    • 20 minutes elliptical
    • Foam Rolling

    Happy to continue working my weights back up on squats. Everything is slowly going up. One thing I’m happier about is building up my work capacity. You spend all this time working at low reps, so things like 20 reps just kill you. It’s a slow process, slower than I’d like, but I see the progress from week to week so I just keep going.

    Ankle continues to feel better, especially evident when I do the calf raises.

    KR Training – 2014-03-29 – DPS2/AT-2/AT-1A Quick Hits

    / hsoi

    Another “big day” in the books.

    Twice a year, KR Training offers a big day of training: 3 classes in one day. Usually the offerings are: Defensive Pistol Skills 2, AT-2: Force on Force Scenarios, and AT-1A: Low Light Shooting. The day winds up being this way because of AT-1A as there’s only a small window at certain times of the year it can be offered due to the need to coordinate class time vs. sunset. It makes for a great day training, that goes well beyond the simple mechanics of shooting, into more mindset and tactics issues — like “maximize enjoyment of beer & tv“.

    There’s really not much for me to say about this class, other than how awesome it was!

    The weather was perfect.

    The classes were sold out, with a good demographic mix. I’m happy to see more women showing up for beyond-beginner-level classes, because personal responsibility, personal safety, and refusing to be a victim is a topic for all genders.

    The students were awesome. We really had a great group. No safety issues. Great questions. Eager and open to learning. Good skills. What really impressed me was how they kept going forward. I don’t recall the exact numbers, but I think 70-80% of the students were there for two classes, and probably 40-50% were there for all three. That’s a LOT of information, a lot of stress and pressure, and you just get tired. But even at the end of the day, students were still applying the lessons from the morning class. That’s tough to do all things considered. But we just had a sharp group of students.

    So is there much for me to offer up? No, not really. 🙂

    Best I can say to the attending students is given the vast amount of information, it’s unlikely you’ll remember it all. Focus on remembering at least 3 things, or maybe more if you can. Think about new stuff you learned, something you found you need more work on (weak-hand-only?), and perhaps if there were any eye-opening or sobering/humbling moments (maybe the force-on-force?). Write those down, and work on those. The other information is in your head and will come back, but for now, at least focus on a few key things instead of struggling to remember it all.

    There was one other cool part of the day. If you follow KR Training’s Facebook Page you’ve seen the construction of a third berm. The intent of this berm is to be a 270º-360º berm, with a semi-permanent shoothouse structure. Karl’s been working hard on this construction, and we got to break in the shoothouse! It was certainly a maiden voyage, and we discovered some kinks that will be worked out. Special thanx to all the students for your patience in this regard.

    There was one thing that hit me as worthy of writing on, but I’ll save that for another day.

    Thanx to all who came out. I hope you had as good a day learning as we did teaching.

    2014-03-31 training log

    / hsoi

    Today was….

    Based upon Paul Carter’s LRB-365 and Base Building

    • Incline Press
      • 45 x 5
      • 45 x 5
      • 110 x 5
      • 130 x 4
      • 150 x 3
      • 180 x 2
      • 200 x 1
      • 155 x 14
      • 155 x 5
    • DB Bench Press
      • 55e x 10
      • 55e x 10
      • 55e x 8
      • 55e x 8
      • 55e x 8
    • Behind the Neck Press
      • 90 x 8
      • 90 x 6
      • 90 x 6
    • BB Upright Row (wide grip)
      • 50 x 15
      • 50 x 15
      • 50 x 15
      • 50 x 15
      • 50 x 13
    • Tricep Punchdowns
      • 70 x 40 (each arm)

    Today was… what it was.

    The lifting actually went OK, but my brain was NOT there. Had a very long day at KR Training on Saturday, and Sunday was a weird thing trying to sleep/rest but my brain didn’t want to so tho I dozed I never got solid rest. So walking into the gym this morning was very much an “I don’t wanna!” moment. I even thought about making it a “jack shit” day after inclines, but just kept going. I felt good, had a good session. But damn I’m still tired. Must work to remedy that over the course of the week.

    I am always amazed at how one more rep can affect the rest of the session. I did 155 for 12 last week, and got 14 this week. But the 14th did involve lifting my butt off the bench (didn’t plan that, but it wasn’t going back into the rack without it, given I have no spotter). But that grinding took a bunch out of me. Always find that interesting.

    Tried upright rows with a wider grip, sort of thing where when my upper arms are parallel to the ground, my lower arms are 90º angle. I did have to have a very slight forward lean to make my shoulder happy, but it worked alright as long as I kept that groove. It felt like there was more muscle involved and I got more out of it than narrower grips (relative to this grip). I’ll probably go with it for a while.

    Just was what it was… need sleep otherwise. 🙂